Executive Banquet Chef

Emily Foy - Remington Park Executive Banquet Chef

Emily Foy, whose food dishes proved popular with patrons during a previous stint in Remington Park’s kitchen, has returned to the racetrack as its executive banquet chef.

Foy first worked at Remington Park from 2011 until 2019, rising from a line cook all the way to executive chef. Most recently, she worked at a local bakery, focusing on cake decorating, before deciding to rejoin the Remington Park staff prior to the track’s current quarter-horse racing season.

“I missed it … all of it,” she said. “I missed the rush of the job and preparing and cooking for so many people, then stopping to think to myself, ‘Wow, I helped feed 1,000 people today and I get to do it tomorrow, too.’ I returned to Remington to be in the bakery. Then, the banquet chef position opened up, and this was the opportunity that could not be passed up. It was like riding a bike, or riding a horse, if you will.”

Foy is responsible for food served in Remington Park’s suites level and at its Silks Restaurant, as well as for other events hosted at the track. She also is charged with maintaining and developing menu items, which often change from season to season. She has a particular affinity for creating and preparing dessert dishes.

“Our menus include key Oklahoma staples like chicken fried steak and fine-dining dishes like crab cakes that have garnered a strong following among our racing fans throughout the years,” she said. “We try to focus on comfort (food) and don’t get too crazy. We like for people to be able to enjoy it without all the fluff and enjoy the fresh ingredients and from-scratch recipes that we use.”

Born in Oklahoma City, Foy moved at age 2 with her immediate family to Conyers, Ga. She developed her love for cooking, baking and preparing meals while spending time in the kitchen of her grandmother, Joyce Borden.

“Being in the kitchen with her opened my mind to the fact you could get a job and get paid to do this on a daily basis,” Foy said.

Foy enrolled in the culinary arts program at the Art Institute of Atlanta when she was 18. While in school, she worked as a prep/line cook at the famed Dunwoody Country Club in Atlanta.

Those years provided Foy’s initial experience of long hours and precision in cooking and baking.

In 2004, she moved back to Oklahoma City and became the lead baker at the Renaissance Hotel. She also managed a local restaurant in Midwest City before arriving at Remington Park in 2011. Within two years, she rose to executive chef, a post she held until she left.

In her second stint at Remington Park, Foy said she does more cooking than she did the first time around. There is no typical day at the office for Foy, given the private events hosted at Remington Park and the nature of the track’s two racing seasons.

Foy said it was the camaraderie of her team at Remington Park – especially her sous chef, Felisha Franklin, who “helps me with all aspects of the kitchen” – that proved pivitol in drawing her back to work at the racetrack.

“It’s always the team that motivates me to strive for more,” Foy said. “In my role as executive banquet chef, I go to work every day with the utmost joy and fulfillment that I had when I first stepped into a professional kitchen. It makes the stress and the long hours all worth it. I am so grateful to be part of the Remington Park team focused on creating experiences for anyone who comes to the table.”